Pretty Much Perfect: The Sequel to the Sequel
by Leonhart17
Summary: Sequel to Pretty Much Perfect, the sequel to Ripples, it picks up 3 years after PMP... Willow and Tara and their family get some news... Short fic, daily updates.
1. Chapter 1

Willow could hear the door to her office open behind her, but she didn't turn away from her computer, waving one hand over her shoulder, still typing with her other hand. "Just leave it on the desk and I'll look at it," she said distractedly.

"Willow, it's me."

Tara's voice had her turning in quick surprise. "Honey, what are you doing here? Is Kyle okay? Buffy? Xander?" She rose quickly from her chair, moving swiftly to Tara. "Are _you_ okay?" Tara was pale and had apparently been biting her lips quite a lot, leaving them red and swollen.

The blonde nodded, one hand reaching for Willow's shoulder while the other covered her stomach unconsciously. "I need to talk to you," she said hoarsely. "Kyle's okay," she promised quickly, seeing the anxious question rising in her wife's eyes. "Buffy and Dawn are at home with him. Xander's at work."

Willow nodded, partially relieved. "And you? Are you okay?"

Tara's hand slipped over her shoulder to her neck, nails grazing under Willow's short hair. "Can we sit?" she requested, gesturing to the couch in Willow's office.

Willow's eyes were wide but she managed to nod, Tara pulling her on numb legs to sit stiffly on the sofa. "What is it?" she breathed, countless horrific answers to her question already flying through her mind. "What's wrong?"

Tara blinked, shaking her head. "No, it's not… I d-don't really know how to s-say this…"

"Oh God, what happened?" Willow asked, heart pounding in her chest. "Did someone hurt you? They're dead…"

"No!" Tara protested, hushing her with a hand over her mouth and smiling for the first time since she'd arrived in Willow's office. "Honey, no. No one hurt me. I'm fine. I promise you." She bit her lip again, taking a deep breath. "I'm actually a little better than fine."

Willow frowned behind her hand, not sure what that meant. "Better than fine?" she questioned as Tara lowered her hand. "How can you be better than….oh." Her voice trailed off as she realized exactly what that meant, heart pounding again, the pulse beating in her head. "_**Oh! **_Tara, really?" she asked, covering Tara's hand on her stomach. "A baby? You're pregnant?"

Tara nodded, smiling hopefully. "You know I've been getting sick the last few nights…"

"Yeah, but Buffy cooked," Willow protested, grinning like a maniac suddenly. "It wasn't food poisoning?" she asked, laughing helplessly.

Tara shook her head. "I went to the doctor today to make sure," she offered softly, trying to judge Willow's reaction as her wife's face went slack, Willow's jaw hanging. The redhead didn't say anything, but was staring down at their hands on Tara's stomach. "Willow, say something? Please?" she pleaded.

Willow jumped, eyes shooting up to her face. "Tara…" she gasped, eyes swimming with tears. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tara breathed in relief. "You're not mad?"

Willow gaped, shaking her head quickly. "No, no way! Tara, it's our baby. Another perfect kid with the woman I love more than anything. Why would I be mad?" she asked breathlessly.

Tara shrugged, blushing. "I didn't really think you would be, it's just…we never really talked about having more kids, and this is kind of sudden…"

"I don't care how sudden it is, Tara. All I care about is that it's our kid," Willow interjected emphatically. "Have you told Kyle?"

Tara shook her head, smiling. "No, I came straight here from the doctor's office. I thought we should tell him together."

Willow nodded quickly. "Yeah, you're right. Of course. Should we tell him today?" she asked, glancing around her office nervously, fighting an urge to fidget. "Oh my God," she breathed breathlessly. "Tara…"

The blonde smiled in relief, oddly comforted by Willow's spastic behavior. "Willow, just calm down. We don't have to do anything today. Just…" She paused, brushing one hand over Willow's cheek. "Could you hug me, or give me a kiss, or something?" she requested, laughing shakily.

Willow nodded, surprised to realize that she hadn't done either of those things yet. "I think I could handle that," she agreed, voice quiet and soft. She moved slowly, leaning in to capture Tara's lips thoroughly and dragging the kiss out. Tara's hand tightened in her hair, pulling her closer. They were both breathing hard as they separated, and Willow smirked proudly at Tara's dazed expression. "That was okay?"

Tara nodded breathlessly, shifting on the couch to rest her head against Willow's shoulder, curling her legs beside her. "Well, now what are we going to do?" she asked, relaxing into Willow's side.

The redhead shrugged, squeezing her gently. "Anything you want," she offered.

"Could you cut out early and come home with me now?" Tara asked. "I feel like some family time."

Willow nodded, mentally rearranging her schedule. "Just let me make one call and move an appointment and I'll take you home," she said, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she slipped reluctantly to her feet. She took one step toward her desk before spinning back to Tara and dropping to her knees in front of the sofa. One of Tara's hands was still covering her stomach, and Willow shifted it gently, leaning over to press a kiss to the fabric over Tara's stomach.

Their eyes met and Tara combed Willow's hair back, smiling softly. Willow pushed herself back to her feet, stepping backwards blindly until she stumbled into the desk. "Be right back," she promised, grinning sheepishly as she stabilized herself. Tara laughed, watching her quietly. Willow efficiently packed up what she needed, dialing the phone with the other hand. After a minute she was hanging up and slinging her laptop case over her shoulder.

"I'm all yours," she announced cheerfully, arms wide to either side.

Tara smiled, unfolding herself from the couch and sliding herself under Willow's arm. "I know that already," she replied primly.

Willow looked like she wanted to argue for a second before realizing that there was no defense she wanted to present, and she shrugged. They left her office and Willow fished a file folder out of her bag, handing it to the girl at the desk and waving as they passed.

Xander was home from work when they got back to the house and Faith was stretched out on the couch. Kyle had been trying to evade Buffy, the little boy covered in what looked like grape jelly, but the Slayer caught him just as Willow and Tara entered the front door.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Buffy promised preemptively. "I've got this under control."

"Mommy!" Kyle yelped from his aunt's arms. "Me an' Aunt BB made lunch today!" he announced proudly, still squirming to get away from the Slayer, his face and hands sticky with jam.

Buffy slung him over a shoulder, waving to the amused mothers. "Bath time, little man!" she said, swatting his butt lightly. "Tell your moms we'll see them soon."

"Bye bye, Mommy," Kyle called as he and Buffy disappeared up the stairs.

Willow and Tara exchanged glances, shrugging. If Buffy wanted to try and handle bath time, that was her decision. Faith leaned back to look at them upside down, taking a beer from Xander as he came into the living room. "Is Red playing hooky from work?" she asked, grinning. "Were you guys hoping to do something naughty, because I hate to tell you, but it's kind of a full house. We could turn the TV up though," she suggested with a smirk and waving the remote in demonstration.

Just as she finished, Giles joined them, pulling up just inside the front door and giving them a way out of responding to Faith's teasing. "Oh, Willow, Tara, you're home. Excellent."

Willow frowned at him. "What's up?" she asked warily.

"I wouldn't advise going in the kitchen," he suggested, patting her on the shoulder as he moved into the living room.

Tara peeked helplessly into the kitchen, gaping at the mess. Willow laughed, pulling her away. "Packed house is actually what we were looking for," she said, dropping to sit on the opposite couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table. Tara curled in beside her, one leg curling itself over Willow's thigh, one hand resting lightly on her wife's stomach.

"You _are_ playing hooky though, aren't you?" Xander asked, laughing. "You're never home this early."

Willow shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, I guess. Tara stopped by the office though, and I decided to come home with her."

They all heard a loud splash upstairs and everyone looked up at the ceiling with grins on their faces. Tara started to move, wanting to help, but was stopped by Willow's hand on her thigh. _"She's the Slayer. He's a three year old. She'll be fine."_ Willow reminded her. _"Maybe,"_ she added as they heard another splash and a thump.

It was only a bit longer before they could hear Kyle clattering down the stairs, his wet hair flopping around his ears in curls and his favorite footed pajamas sliding on the floor as he rounded the couch at a run. He jumped onto the couch with his parents, knees hitting Tara's hip and stomach and sending her breath huffing out in a rush.

"Kyle! What's the rule about running in the house?" Willow spoke up sharply, pinning him with a look while Tara drew in a deep breath. "You could have hurt Mama!"

"_Willow, it's okay. He doesn't know,"_ Tara reminded her. _"Go easy on him."_

"_Are you okay?"_

"_Yeah, he mostly got my hip. I'm fine," _Tara promised.

Kyle looked properly rebuked and he glanced at Tara through his eyelashes, the same look that Willow used with great effectiveness to the same purpose. "Mama, did I hurt you?" he asked, lip trembling.

"No, little man, but you know you're not supposed to be running in the house," Tara said.

"Okay," he agreed, voice pouty.

Tara leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his wet hair, one arm curling across his chest. "Want to sit up here with me and Mommy and you can tell us about what you and Aunt Buffy did today?" she offered, shifting her leg to give him room to slide in between herself and Willow. He slid back into the space with a nod, smiling hopefully up at her, relieved that she wasn't angry about his unintentional rule break.

The others listened to his stories, Buffy herself joining them to corroborate his tales. By the time he finished it was his bedtime and the witches took him upstairs to go to bed. He insisted on a story before bed, but was asleep before Willow finished it, his little body sprawled haphazardly through the sheets. Willow covered him up carefully, pressing a kiss to his hair as she stood and watched him sleep.

"When do you want to tell him?" Tara asked softly, taking her hand.

Willow shrugged, thinking. "How about we give it a while? Let's get a few check ups under our belts before we tell him," she suggested. "Of course, not because I think anything is going to go wrong or anything, but if we tell him now and he can't tell you're pregnant, he might not understand what it means. It might be easier for him to get it if he can see…"

Tara's quiet laugh interrupted her ramble and Willow blushed in the dim glow of Kyle's nightlight. "And until then everyone can just think I've let myself go," Tara teased.

Willow rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "Yeah right! No one would ever believe that!" she protested. "They know how well exercised we keep each other. 'Let yourself go,'" she snorted, shaking her head. "Please!" She gestured at Tara. "I mean, honestly! Have you looked at yourself? You're a hot mama, Tara!" She hooked her free hand through Tara's belt, pulling her around to face her. "And being pregnant just makes you look better. I'm not going to be able to let you go out alone. Everyone who sees you is just going to try and take you away from me."

Tara rolled her eyes, shaking her head at her wife's exaggerated praise. "Willow…"

"I'm serious!" the redhead protested with a laugh. "Kelly better watch herself!" She paused in her tirade as Tara's lips met the skin under her ear. "Oh…uh…"

Tara's hands found Willow's butt, pulling her closer as she stepped them backwards toward their room. "Shut up, Willow," she breathed just before she kissed her.

"Yes, ma'am," Willow agreed breathlessly against her lips.


	2. Chapter 2

Tara could feel Willow's hand tight around hers and she glanced up nervously as she watched the doctor spread the gel for the ultrasound over her stomach, gasping at the cool touch.

"_You okay?" _Willow asked anxiously and Tara kissed the back of her hand with a laugh.

"_Honey, you know what an ultrasound feels like," _she reminded her wife. _"I'm fine."_

It had been a month since Tara had found out she was pregnant, but she wasn't showing yet, and they hadn't told either Kyle or the Scoobies.

Dr. Fine smiled at the pair, taking a few minutes to get her ultrasound wand ready and find the baby. Willow stiffened as the doctor made a quiet noise. "What?" she demanded. "What's wrong? Is Tara okay?"

"Hmm," Doctor Fine repeated the sound, smiling as Willow made an annoyed growl. "Your wife is fine, Mrs. Rosenberg-Maclay. I just…" She settled the image in one place, pointing with her free hand. "If I'm seeing this correctly…" She pointed to the monitor. "Here is one heartbeat," she said, finger on one spot where a rapid black and white flurry showed the baby's heart pumping. "And here's another," she finished, sliding her finger to another spot on the screen.

"What does that mean?" Willow asked dumbly while Tara just stared at the monitor without speaking.

The doctor laughed and Willow's eyes got impossibly wider. "It means twins, Willow."

Tara's eyes were torn from the monitor as Willow's hand was abruptly torn from hers, followed by a loud crash a second later. "Willow?" she yelped, leaning up to look over the edge of the bed. Doctor Fine was quick to get around the bed, swatting Willow's cheek lightly to bring her around. "Honey, are you okay?" Tara asked as the doctor helped the redhead sit up.

"What happened?" Willow questioned, confused.

"You fainted, baby," Tara answered. "Are you okay?" she asked again.

"Fainted?" Willow repeated, not understanding.

"Doctor, is she okay?" Tara questioned anxiously, wiping the gel off her stomach and climbing to her feet to support Willow.

The doctor nodded, smiling reassuringly. "Yes, she's just in shock. She'll remember."

Willow blinked, eyes focusing on the doctor and then on Tara as her breath was sucked away. "Tara…twins?" she asked breathlessly. "Two? Two babies?" she asked, looking to the doctor for confirmation. Willow was breathing hard as the realization sank in. "Oh my God…"

Tara guided her to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning over to look her in the eyes. "Honey, are you okay with this?"

"Two babies," Willow repeated dumbly. "How did that happen?"

Tara glanced over her shoulder at the doctor, suddenly blushing brightly. _"I think you know that," _she sent, brushing Willow's hair back with one hand. "Two babies, Willow."

The redhead swallowed thickly, nodding as she blinked back tears. "Tara, I couldn't be happier about this," she promised softly, recognizing Tara's anxiety. "You're going to be so beautiful."

"I'm going to be so _big_," Tara corrected her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Willow narrowed her eyes in warning, pointing at her sternly. "You're beautiful and don't you forget it," she said firmly, reaching up to touch Tara's still flat belly. "Two babies," she repeated, fascinated. She looked up at Tara with a smile. "Thank you," she breathed. The hand on Tara's stomach curled around her and Willow pulled her around to lean back against her, the blonde sitting on Willow's leg while the redhead curled her other arm around her.

"Are they all healthy?" Willow questioned, recovered from her fainting episode and regaining her focus Her hands covered Tara's stomach protectively, her fingers moving idly over her wife's shirt.

Doctor Fine nodded, smiling at them both. "Everyone looks good. Tara, just eat healthy and get plenty of rest and we'll check on you in a month or so, alright?"

They nodded their understanding and the doctor left them, handing a printed picture of the ultrasound showing both heartbeats to Tara as she left. Willow didn't speak, just holding Tara close to her. "Oh my God," Tara breathed finally, staring down at the picture. "Twins…"

Willow pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, smiling against the skin. "Three kids," she groaned, her fingers tracing slowly over Tara's stomach. "Tara…"

"I hope they have your hair," the blonde commented, leaning back into her.

Willow giggled, knowing that Tara knew how much she loved their son's blonde curls. "I'd be happy if they all looked like you," Willow said. "More perfect, beautiful angels."

Tara snorted, swatting Willow's hand lightly. "Sweet talker," she chided gently. "Let's go home."

"And let the pampering commence!" Willow announced dramatically as Tara giggled. "I'm serious, honey. Get ready to relax and count on me for everything. Ooh, I could get you a little bell and you could ring it anytime you needed anything!"

Tara laughed, shaking her head as she found her purse and Willow hurried to open the door for her. "You goof. I'm pregnant, not an invalid."

"You're my _pregnant wife_, Tara," Willow stated as if that said it all.

"Does that mean you're going to drive home?" the blonde asked, thinking of the traffic they would hit between the doctor's office and their home in the suburbs.

Willow nodded promptly. "Yep. Hand over the keys," she directed, holding one hand out. Tara giggled, but gave them to her as they rode the elevator down into the parking garage. Willow continued her gallantry at the car, opening the passenger side for Tara before rounding the vehicle to climb behind the wheel. She adjusted the mirror, glancing over her shoulder into the backseat. "It's a good thing we decided to get such a huge car," she commented, smiling sideways at her wife.

Tara nodded, turning to look into the back. Kyle's seat was buckled into the middle of the first row of seats and she noticed a discarded action figure on the floor below his seat. "Should we tell him now?"

Willow shrugged, backing out of their space carefully. "If you want to," she agreed. "We have the picture, and he's a smart kid."

"I want to tell him," Tara said. "And everybody else. But Kyle needs to know first."

Willow nodded. "Then we'll tell him when we get home," she said easily. "And we can tell the others tonight or whenever you want."

Tara laughed. "Was I this accommodating when you were pregnant?" she teased, reaching one hand over to rub lightly over Willow's thigh.

Willow caught her hand, pulling it up to press a kiss to the back of it. "You were an angel. You always are."

The downtown traffic was bad, but Willow kept her patience and they reached their house right before dinnertime. Kyle was on the living room floor playing with Dawn and a pair of toy racecars, but he abandoned them as his parents came through the front door, bolting to Tara and jumping into her arms.

"Hey, baby boy," she said, laughing as he kissed her cheek sloppily.

He wrinkled his nose at her, shaking his head. "I'm a big boy, Mama," he corrected her seriously.

"That's right! You sure are," Tara agreed. "What are you up to, big boy?"

"I builded a car track! Wanna see it?" he said excitedly, pointing over his shoulder to where Dawn was still on the floor.

"You built it?" Willow asked, following them as Tara let him down, the little boy dragging her behind him as he ran back to his creation.

Kyle nodded proudly. "Yep. Aunt DD helped me!" Unable to pronounce any of his relatives' names when he had first started talking, they had each been branded with their initials. Faith had been rejoicing in making fun of 'Aunt BB' until she had been declared 'Aunt FeFe,' much to Buffy's never-ending delight. Giles was just grateful that he had become 'Papa.' The others were still waiting for him to start using their real names.

"Did you tell your Aunt Dawn 'thank you' for helping you?" Willow asked, winking at her friend as they took seats on the floor with her while Kyle got ready to demonstrate his track.

"Yes, Mommy," he answered distractedly, lining up his toy carefully. "Race, Aunt DD!" he directed, pointing to the car in her hand. Dawn lined up her car obligingly and Kyle put his finger on the switch that would start the cars moving down the sloped track while Dawn did the same on her side of the track. He pushed it after a dramatic pause, clapping as both cars shot down the track. His took an early lead, but Dawn's was catching up when they crossed the line, Kyle's car in the lead by an inch.

Everyone cheered for him, Willow hugging him as he jumped around happily. "Good job," Dawn congratulated him, shaking his hand with a smirk as he stuck his arm out stiffly. "You're a good winner, buddy." She stretched, standing up slowly. "It's my night to cook," she said. "Is everyone good with spaghetti?"

"S'ketti?" Kyle asked, looking up at her. "S'ketti's my favorite!"

Dawn pretended to be surprised. "Is it really?" she asked. "I didn't know that!"

"Uh-huh! It is, it is!" Kyle said eagerly.

"Well, then we _have _to have it!" Dawn declared, grinning at him.

Willow laughed. "It's a miracle any of us are mature in this house," she commented, leaning back against the base of the couch. Dawn just stuck her tongue out at the witch, ruffling Kyle's hair and then Willow's as she moved toward the kitchen.

Willow shook her head to get her hair out of her face, seeing Tara take a deep breath as they both watched Kyle line his cars up again. "Mama, race with me!"

Tara moved on her knees behind him and rested one hand on his shoulder. Willow cleared her throat, affecting a deep voice. "Tonight at Slayer stadium, we've got the race of the century!" Kyle laughed happily as Willow commentated. "Mother and son face off in a dramatic race to the finish! Who will win? Nobody knows!" She counted them down and Kyle and Tara hit their switches with a laugh. Tara's car was in the lead initially, but Kyle's flew through the inside curve and passed hers on the final straight.

He laughed delightedly, lining the cars up again. "Hey, Kyle, what would you think of having some more little kids to play with?" Tara asked, sitting back on her heels, trying to ease into telling Kyle about the babies.

Their son paused in his playing preparations, thinking. "I dunno," he said noncommittally. "Play with me, Mama."

She did as directed, thumbing her switch when Willow counted them down again. Her car scraped into the lead and managed to hang onto it through the end, but she stopped him as he moved to line them up again. "Kyle, we wanted to tell you something," Tara started, voice quiet.

"Where would the other kids come from?" Kyle asked instead, fiddling with the car in his hand.

Willow and Tara exchanged looks and Willow leaned up, resting a supportive hand on Tara's back. "They'll come from your mama the same way you came from inside me," the redhead answered, smiling at him as his head came up to stare at Tara.

"Mama?" he asked, shuffling closer to her on his knees. "Where do the kids come from?"

"_He's way too young to know the answer to that,"_ Willow told her, smiling sideways at her wife.

Tara nodded, reaching forward and taking Kyle's free hand and guiding it to her stomach. "They're in there," she answered simply.

His eyes were wide and he stared up at her. "How many?" he asked, his expression of fascination identical to Willow's.

"Two," Tara answered, brushing his bangs back from his face. "What do you think about that?"

He thought seriously for a long moment, not speaking. "They're for me to play with?" he questioned, still considering.

Willow laughed, but nodded. "They'll play with you. You'll be their big brother."

He frowned, thinking that over. "Brother?"

"Yeah. Like Aunt BB and Aunt DD are sisters. You're going to have little brothers or sisters," Tara told him.

"Can they be brothers?" he asked, wrinkling his nose. "I don't think I want sisters."

Willow laughed, shaking her head. "How come you don't think you want sisters?"

"We already have Aunt BB and Aunt DD," he answered matter-of-factly. "We don't have any brothers."

The witches exchanged glances, both smiling. "We can't choose what they're going to be, but they'll be _your _brother or sister either way."

He took another minute to think about that, nodding finally. "_My _brother or sister?" His parents nodded, and he patted Tara's stomach. "Then can I have one of each? Then I don't have to pick if I want brothers or sisters," he explained.

"We'll just have to wait and see, okay?" Willow reminded him. "But they'll be your brother or sister no matter what."

He nodded, leaning forward suddenly to put his ear against Tara's stomach. "I can't hear them," he said. "Sure they're in there?" he asked, leaning back to look up at his parents.

Willow laughed, nodding. "We're sure. Do you want to see a picture?" she asked, fishing the picture out of Tara's purse and handing it to him.

He turned it from side to side, trying to spot the babies. "I don't see them," he sighed, disappointed. Tara pulled him into her lap and pointed the heartbeats out to him. He stared for a moment, craning his head back to look up at them and then back at the picture.

Tara huffed in surprise as he used both hands to push himself to his feet, rushing into the kitchen with the picture clutched in his hand. They could both hear as he happily announced his new status as a big brother to Dawn, the witches exchanging smiles as they stayed where they were. Willow slipped her hand into Tara's as they both heard Dawn talking to him. "You're going to be a big brother?" she asked, laughing. "Why do you say that?"

"Mama told me!" he answered. "And they gave me this!" There was a pause and he continued. "See? There's two of them and I'm their big brother!"

There was a clatter as Dawn apparently dropped a pot, and Willow winced as their friend squealed loudly. She tore around the corner and down the hall to the living room, both hands covering her mouth. She stared at them with wide eyes, hopping excitedly on her toes. "Which one?" she asked.

Willow pointed to Tara, an undeniably proud grin on her face, and Dawn hauled the blonde witch to her feet, still jumping as she hugged her. "How long?" she demanded.

"Two months," Tara answered, cringing against another loud screech of excitement.

Dawn broke away from her suddenly, bolting to the front door and onto the porch. "BUFFY!" she screamed and Willow was sure she saw the windows rattle in their frames.


	3. Chapter 3

The witches exchanged glances, Willow rising to take Tara's hand again as they waited. It didn't take a minute before the Slayer was on the porch and through the door, followed by Faith and more slowly by Giles, all clutching weapons.

Kyle bolted in from the kitchen as he heard the others rush in, running straight to Buffy and throwing himself at her leg. He wrapped both arms around her knee, the Slayer struggling not to trip over him as she tried to find the danger.

"Get behind me, Kyle," she directed firmly, looking confused at the perfectly normally looking surroundings and the lack of obvious evil to fight.

"Aunt BB, Aunt BB! Guess what?" he chattered instead. Tara and Willow both closed their eyes, waiting for the revelation and following eruption. "Unk's home!" he announced happily after a dramatic pause, knowing that he had the adult's attention.

Xander appeared from the kitchen, walking slowly down the hall with the ultrasound picture in his hands. "Um…" he greeted them slowly, staring at the witches as they peeked cautiously around the room. "Something to share?" he asked, biting back a wide grin.

Willow let out a deep breath, holding her free hand out for the picture. "Buffy…everybody…Tara's pregnant," she announced, swallowing as they all gasped. "With twins," she finished, closing her eyes as she was swept off her feet by Xander, Buffy doing the same to Tara.

"And I'm their big brother," Kyle announced proudly, giggling as Faith scooped him up.

"Good for you, little man!" she told him, tossing him into the air and catching him again.

"They're for me to play with," he told her.

She frowned exaggeratedly at him. "Aww, but then who am I going to play with if you're playing with them?"

His jaw dropped and he hugged her around the neck immediately. "I'll still play with you, Aunt FeFe! And we can teach them to play all our games so they can play with us!"

"Yeah, but I want extra play time before the babies come and hog you, okay?" Faith asked. It had surprised all of them, and probably Faith herself the most, how much she loved Willow and Tara's son, spending time with him at every opportunity.

He nodded promptly, pointing to his racetrack in the middle of the living room floor. "Come play racecars!" He threw himself backwards, falling face first toward the floor as Faith caught his feet. The first few times he'd done it had nearly given his parents heart attacks, and despite the fact that Faith had never dropped him and never would, it still made them nervous.

Faith laughed, holding onto his ankles and lowering him to let him walk on his hands toward the living room. He didn't know the truth about Buffy or Faith, but he had figured out that both of them were capable of playing as rough as he wanted and he knew that they would never let him fall, so he enjoyed taking more risks if they were around, despite the conniptions it sent his parents into.

Faith winked as she and Kyle made their way to the racecar track, the Slayer laughing at the witches that were still being held captive by Buffy and Xander.

"Twins?" Buffy gasped, putting Tara down gently. "Two babies?"

Tara laughed happily. "That's exactly what Willow said!"

"Well, she's got every right! You go girl!" Buffy exclaimed, clapping her friend's back proudly. "Xander, put Will down!" she directed him. "The kids need their mommy!"

Willow took a deep breath as Xander put her on her feet, only to lose her breath as Buffy hugged her tightly. Xander rested one hand on Tara's shoulder, giving her a happy smile. "Congratulations," he said, squeezing her gently while Willow swatted at Buffy's shoulders.

"Too tight!" she gasped. "Super strength!" They were all laughing as she wobbled on her feet. "Hon, next time you go in for a checkup, maybe I can get a chest x-ray, make sure my ribs aren't broken. And now everyone knows about the babies, so hopefully I can avoid breaking any bones."

"You haven't told the other slayers yet. And we need to know more!" Buffy protested. "And I want to see this picture!" she said, holding her hand out for it and ignoring Willow's complaints with a smirk.

Tara and Willow exchanged glances and Tara spoke up as Willow handed over the picture. "I'm eight weeks in. We didn't find out I was pregnant until about a month ago, and we just found out about the twins today." Buffy nodded, grinning at the picture. "Willow fainted when the doctor told us," Tara continued, smiling fondly at her wife.

"You didn't have to tell them _that_ part!" Willow protested. "It's not like I just go around fainting! I'm very resistant to fainting normally! It's just…she's…it's Tara! My Tara! And she's pregnant! With two babies! Two of my babies!" She pouted as the others laughed. "Let's see any of you find out your wife is having twins and you not faint!" she challenged.

Tara moved to her, hugging her soothingly. _"I would have fainted if you had been having twins," _she promised, kissing her cheek softly. Willow wrapped both arms around Tara's waist, still pouting.

"I don't actually plan on having a wife," Buffy stated, lifting a hand with a smile. Dawn jumped as she realized the water she'd left on the stove was boiling, the younger girl bolting for the kitchen with a stifled curse. "Hey! Didn't I get accused of giving Tara food poisoning?" Buffy remembered suddenly. "I think someone owes me two apologies! Preferably god-baby sized."

"I'm sorry, Buffy," Willow recited, her face buried in Tara's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Buffy," she repeated, breathing deeply. _"I'm so in love with you, Tara."_

"_Will…"_ Tara responded, holding her tighter. _"You're just saying that cause you knocked me up," _she teased.

"Psht!" Willow scoffed. "No, I'm not!"

Xander threw both hands in the air, laughing. "You know I don't think it's fair when you guys are all talky in your heads! Let us all in on your little secret talking!"

"Tara claims I'm only affectionate because she's 'knocked up,'" Willow announced, putting up air quotes before returning her hands to sit low on Tara's waist.

Xander joined her in scoffing. "I think we all know that's not true!" he said, grinning. "With the way you two go after each other…"

"Okay, stop helping me, Xander!" Willow protested, shooting her eyes down at an oblivious Kyle, her son still playing happily with Faith. She froze as she remembered how her hormones had gone wild when she'd been pregnant and she bit her lip, blushing brightly with a glance up at Tara.

"_What are you thinking of?"_ the blonde asked, arching an eyebrow at her. Willow leaned her head against Tara's neck, nipping lightly at her skin. _"Oh,"_ Tara realized, leaning into her unconsciously. _"This __**will **__be fun, won't it?"_

"_My idea to give you a bell to ring doesn't seem so silly now, does it?" _Willow reminded her smugly, slipping her fingers through Tara's belt loops and pulling her hips closer. _"You'd be able to call me whenever you needed…anything, ever, and I'd be able to come running."_

"_Honey, we can talk in our heads. No matter how far away we are. Literally the only time we can get out of touch with each other is to go to a demon dimension," _Tara reminded her.

"_Which you will absolutely __**never**__ be doing, ever,"_ Willow stated firmly, meeting her eyes. She laughed as Xander groaned, rolling his eyes.

"They're doing it again!" he declared, pointing at the couple.

"Fine, we'll stop!" Willow said, ginning at him. "But I'm not telling you what we were talking about," she said firmly.

"That's probably good," Buffy chimed in. "There are impressionable ears around," she reminded them, smirking down at her godson playing with her counterpart Slayer.

"Pretty soon we won't be able to say anything around here," Faith chimed in from the floor, not looking up from the racetrack.

"You love it, and you know it!" Buffy accused, crossing her arms over her chest as Faith winked at Kyle.

"Being best buds with a three-year-old isn't good for the rep, B," she stated. "But those id…people just don't know what they're missing." No matter how much she protested or tried to downplay her affection, everyone knew that Kyle was Faith's best friend and the person she loved most in the world.

Kyle patted her arm comfortingly. "I'm almost four," he offered, holding up the appropriate amount of fingers on one hand.

"That's right, you are," she agreed, grinning at him. "And what do you want for your birthday?"

"A bike!" he declared immediately, having already picked out his present of choice months before. "Will you teach me how to ride it?"

Faith glanced up at the witches, smiling. "I'm sure you moms will teach you, but I'll help for sure, okay?"

"Okay," he said happily, distracted by his racecar.

"So, do you have a due date yet?" Buffy asked.

Tara shrugged. "Middle to the end of March right now. But they say twins come early." Willow's eyes lit up as she realized there were all new baby facts to learn about twins. "So I guess we'll just wait and see." Tara took a deep breath. "March feels like a _long_ way away though…" Even as she spoke, she realized that she was tired, and she pulled Willow with her to the couch.

"_Everything okay?" _Willow asked, voice full of tender concern.

"_Yeah, I'm just tired. It's been a long day. I think I'll just sit down until dinner,"_ Tara assured her, smiling sideways at her. Just then, Dawn called that it was dinner time from the kitchen. Tara pushed herself back to her feet, wobbling as Kyle bolted past her.

Willow steadied her even as she raised her voice. "Kyle Maclay! No running!" He stumbled to a walk, his shoulders coming up around his ears. _"We're going to have to talk to him about being careful with you."_

"_Don't frighten him, Willow. I don't want my own son to be too scared to come near me,"_ Tara reminded her. _"I need Kyle-snuggles." _She slipped her hand into Willow's as they made their way to the kitchen. _"And snuggles with his mother."_

Willow hid her smile carefully as they reached the others, taking their seats at the table. _"Well, are you very tired? We could go to bed after dinner. Faith and Buffy are here to watch Kyle, and he loves when they read him his story."_

Tara slid a hand over Willow's thigh, leaving her hand on her wife's knee. _"Very thoughtful of you,"_ she teased. _"I think we can make that happen though,"_ she added, yawning.

Willow cut up some spaghetti for Kyle and slid the bowl across the table to him, letting him eat it on his own. The adults chatted while they ate, a few of the slayers wandering in late and helping themselves to what was left in the kitchen. Kyle's face was covered in tomato sauce by the time he finished his food and he squirmed away as his parents attempted to wipe his face.

He tried to scoot away as quickly as he could once they finished, but Willow caught him by one arm. "Say goodnight to Mama," Willow prompted. "She's sleepy."

The little boy hopped into Tara's lap, hugging her quickly. "Night night, Mama!" he said, jumping down and rushing off to play with Buffy and Faith and avoid any more attempts to clean his face.

"You feeling alright?" Xander asked, collecting plates from the table.

Tara nodded, yawning. "I'm fine, just sleepy," she said, giving him a smile. She stood up from her seat, resting one hand on Willow's shoulder as the redhead moved to follow immediately. "You can stay, sweetie. I'll be okay falling asleep alone."

Willow frowned, pouting. "I do _not_ like the sound of that one bit!" she declared, stomping one foot. "Come on," she said, taking Tara's hand down off her shoulder and leading the way to the stairs. "Bed time!"

Tara laughed, but followed willingly. Willow released her hand as they reached their room and shut the door behind them. Tara let her hair down as she walked into the bathroom, hiding a yawn behind one hand. She opened the faucet and wet a washcloth as Willow pressed herself against her back, fingers stroking through Tara's long hair soothingly.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked, knowing that Tara's morning sickness, despite the name, had been coming in the evening. "Is your tummy okay?" She pressed kisses down the side of Tara's neck after drawing blonde hair out of her way.

Tara nodded, leaning her head against Willow's. "I'm alright." She grimaced. "It's been coming pretty much out of nowhere though, so no promises that I won't run away to throw up." She turned her head to smile at Willow. "I promise it's not you though."

Willow laughed, giving her a quick kiss. "Well, that's a relief," she said softly, giving her another kiss before moving to get herself ready for bed.

Tara cuddled into the pillow, letting out a deep breath as she drifted inexorably to sleep. She felt Willow climb into the bed behind her, the redhead laughing softly. "That's my pillow, you know," she commented, leaning over to whisper into Tara's ear.

"_That's why I like it. It smells like you."_

The blonde started to shift tiredly, but Willow stopped her. "Sleep, sweet girl. Anything I have is yours," she reminded her, kissing her cheek softly. Tara kept her eyes closed but shifted forward, one arm curling behind her to pull Willow tighter behind her, giving them both room on the pillow. Willow pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, breathing deeply against her skin. _"I love you, baby,"_ Willow told her. Her hands slipped over Tara's side to stroke over her wife's stomach. _"And I love you, babies."_

Tara relaxed into her arms, breathing deeply as she fell asleep. Willow was still not all that tired, despite her insistence that she go to bed with Tara, and she let herself just wallow in the warm cocoon of safety and love that was created anytime she was with her wife. She could dimly hear Kyle's excited laughter as he undoubtedly did something that would send her into cardiac arrest if she could see it, but she comforted herself with the knowledge that no one would let him get hurt.

It wasn't too long before she heard Buffy come upstairs with Kyle, tucking the little boy into his bed next door. There was a light tap on the door a few minutes later, Buffy poking her head in after Willow answered. "He's asleep," she said with a smile. "He tuckered out during the second Saw movie," she teased. "He's a real trooper, though." Willow narrowed her eyes at her best friend, knowing that she was being joked with. "We watched Scooby-Doo. Him and Faith both fell asleep." Buffy assured her finally, grinning. The adults found it highly amusing how much Kyle enjoyed the old Scooby cartoons, insisting on watching them often.

Willow nodded, not moving from where she was curled around Tara. "He's sleeping good?"

"Out like a light," Buffy promised. "I left his door open a crack. If he wakes up, I'll hear him."

"Thanks, Buff," Willow said, smiling softly. "Everything else good?"

The Slayer nodded, leaning against the doorframe. "Yep. Thanks for telling us about the babies, Will. We're all really excited for you guys. We were talking about it while Kyle was watching Scooby."

Willow smiled peacefully. "And what did you guys decide?"

"That Dawn's going to move out," Buffy answered.

Willow frowned, sitting up. "What?" she asked, confused. "Why?"

"You guys are going to need the nursery again, or another nursery, at least, and she apparently thinks she's a little too old to live with 'big sister,'" Buffy answered, shrugging.

"I mean, I guess she _i_s twenty-three, but where's she going to go?" Willow asked, frowning deeply.

Buffy scoffed quietly, seeing Tara shift under the sheets. "She mentioned moving in with that guy she's been dating, but I said only over his bleeding and broken body would _that _happen. For now, she's thinking she'll either move in with Faith and Giles, or maybe into the training house for the witch squad, doing a housemother type thing, as hard as that is to believe," she added with a quiet laugh. "We've got some time to figure it out, and she doesn't want to go too far with two more babies on the way."

Willow smiled, taking a deep breath. "Buffy…"

"I know," the Slayer agreed. "I mean, I can't possibly know, really, but I know that I'm proud of you, and you're an awesome mom, Willow. You and Tara both. Kyle's a lucky kid." She winked at her best friend. "The twins will be just as lucky."

"You and Xander, you'll look after them, right? Take care of them, keep them safe? All of them? If…"

"Stop Will," Buffy stated firmly. "You already know we would. Me, Xander, Faith, Giles, Dawn, Kennedy, Satsu, even Kelly, would all die to protect those kids. And you and Tara too."

"I know," Willow agreed. "And I know nothing is going to happen to us if there's anything any of us can do to prevent it. But you know how our lives work. How often to we get happy endings?"

Buffy hesitated for a moment, moving off the door to take a seat on the edge of the bed beside Willow. "I swear to you those kids will, even if it's the last thing I do, Willow."

The witch nodded to her best friend, smiling. "Then they will," she agreed softly, one hand finding the Slayer's wrist in the dim light. "Thanks Buffy."

Buffy nodded, patting her friend's hand softly. "Night, Will," she breathed, lifting herself off the edge of the bed without disturbing Tara. She moved back toward the door without a sound, pausing as she reached the door. "Does this mean I'm a godmother again?" she asked, grinning over her shoulder.

"Yes, Buffy," Willow agreed with a laugh. "And thank you."

The Slayer just nodded, pulling the door closed behind her as Willow settled back into the sheets. Tara stirred, but only shifted her head on Willow's chest, her leg sliding over Willow's legs. "Why're you awake?" the blonde mumbled, her eyes not opening.

"Shh," Willow prompted her. "Go back to sleep, baby."

"Kyle?"

Willow kissed her forehead, letting her own eyes slip closed. "He's asleep. Buffy put him in bed. Sleep, Tara."

"You too," Tara mumbled, settling more heavily against Willow as she let herself fade back into unconsciousness. Willow let herself follow, peaceful and whole.


	4. Chapter 4

Willow could hear painful whimpers before she even got halfway up the stairs and she bolted the rest of the way without a second thought. "Tara! Honey, talk to me!" she said loudly. "Where are you?" She ran into their room and caught a glimpse of Tara seated on the floor of their bathroom, leaned against the base of the cabinet. Willow crossed the room in two strides, sliding across the tile of the bathroom to her on her knees, both hands catching the sides of Tara's head, lifting her face to look at her closely. "What's wrong?" she asked frantically, seeing Tara's face slick with tears. "Where does it hurt?"

Tara shook her head, lifting her left hand as she covered her eyes with her other hand. "My finger," she said, voice scratchy. "It hurts."

Willow realized what was happening, her heart pounding in her chest and she took a moment to squeeze her eyes closed tightly as she tried to slow her pulse. "Your finger? Okay, baby, I'm here. It's okay. I'll fix it," she promised quickly. "Here," she said, taking Tara's hand between both of her own and lowering her lips around her wife's ring finger, taking it all the way into her mouth. It took a second before she felt the rings wiggle as she poked them with her tongue. She drew her mouth back down Tara's finger slowly, doing her best to gently guide the rings back with her teeth. She smiled around the rings as she spun them between her lips, wiggling them both with her tongue. "Better?" she asked, picking the rings from between her lips.

Tara nodded, slow tears sliding down her face. "Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem," Willow replied softly, massaging Tara's hand between her fingers. "Does it feel better now?" She dried Tara's finger off on the edge of her shirt, free hand brushing Tara's hair back gently.

Tara nodded again, swallowing thickly. "The rings…my fingers are all swollen…" She looked down at her rings, stuck onto the end of Willow's finger. "I never wanted to take them off, sweetie."

"Shh," Willow hushed her, looking around for something. "I know that," she promised. "Here," she said softly, sliding the rings onto the tip of Tara's pinky. "Just hold these, and I'll be right back." She scrambled back into their bedroom and Tara could hear her wife digging through a drawer for a few seconds before she was back, unfastening the clasp of a necklace. "Slide them on here, okay?" she directed, holding one end up for Tara to slide the rings onto the chain.

"What? Where did this come from?" Tara asked in surprise, turning as Willow lifted her hair to clasp the necklace behind her.

"Do you like it?" Willow asked, hiding a smile as Tara inspected the white gold heart-shaped charm that resided on the chain along with her engagement ring and wedding band.

Tara nodded, looking up from the necklace. "It's beautiful," she said softly.

"Well, good, I'm very glad you like it, because I was saving that for your birthday," Willow told her, pretending offense. "We're never going to manage to keep a secret from each other," she complained. She leaned forward a second later, kissing her softly. "Happy early birthday," she breathed into the space between their lips, her head moving forward to close the space again.

"_At least you're only a week early,"_ Tara pointed out. _"And I don't find the lack of secret keeping a really big problem."_

"_Are you saying you don't trust me?"_ Willow teased, smiling into the kiss. She knew Tara trusted her, possibly, and probably, more than she trusted herself, and she knew her wife wouldn't doubt her.

Willow kept hold of Tara's hand as they separated, the redhead massaging her hand gently. "You know you scared the life out of me, don't you?" Willow asked, leaning back against the counter beside Tara on her left side. "You should have called me," she chided gently.

"Because my finger hurt?" Tara asked, glancing sideways at her. "Hon, you haven't been to work in a week. There was no reason to call you home."

"It's not like we need the money," Willow protested. "I should quit."

Tara shook her head, frowning at her. "You love that job, Willow."

"Nowhere near as much as I love you!" Willow stated, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

"What are you even doing home this early?" Tara asked, letting her eyes close as Willow kept massaging her hand. "I know you pretty much make your own schedule because of your smarty pants, but this is a little early, even for you." Willow mumbled something Tara couldn't hear, and the blonde dragged her head to rest on her wife's shoulder. _"What was that?"_ Tara asked.

"Came home to check on you. I'm on lunch," Willow confessed sheepishly, voice soft. "I brought you some take out," she added hopefully. Her fingers brushed over the pale circle where Tara's rings normally rested.

Tara frowned, keeping her eyes closed. "I don't like not wearing them."

"It's not like you don't love me just because you don't have my ring on," Willow reminded her. "It _does_ mean that you can't go in public without me though."

Tara laughed softly. "And why not, exactly?" she asked curiously.

"Without a ring on to tell people to back off, everyone's going to be hitting on you," she said matter-of-factly, as if that answer should be obvious. "You won't have any peace. Not at the grocery store, or at the mall with Dawnie, or the park with Kyle," she paused, frowning, "…the park with Kyle is off limits," she decided, ignoring Tara's giggles. "No, listen," she prompted. "You know how we have the cutest little boy in the whole world?"

Tara nodded, murmuring her agreement. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Downstairs with Buffy. I came up here to get you for lunch," Willow answered. "Anyway, if you're in the park with the world's cutest kid, and you don't have your ring on, of course all the single moms and dads in the park are going to see you as a hot new opportunity. You won't have a moment's peace. It'll just be people hitting on you, nonstop!"

"Because none of them have ever seen us in the park before," Tara stated in objection. "All of us, together, in the park as a family."

"We could have gotten divorced!" Willow protested. "They don't know!"

Tara didn't respond, just rolled her eyes. "You, my love, are paranoid."

"I'm protective," Willow corrected her. "Of my pregnant wife."

Tara snorted. "Well, you won't have to worry about anything in another few weeks. I'm showing already. I can only get bigger."

"And what difference would that make?" Willow asked with a tone in her voice.

"Oh, just that a waddling woman chasing a four year old isn't going to attract anyone," Tara answered, shifting on the floor.

Willow scoffed even as she moved to help Tara up from the floor. "Well, that's just not true!" Willow stated as she pulled Tara to her feet. "You're the most gorgeous pregnant woman there has ever been!"

Tara laughed loudly, hugging Willow tightly. "You're a little biased, sweetie, but thank you for that blatantly false statement. I love you too."

"'Blatantly false' my butt!" Willow disagreed. "Completely true and factual is what I think you meant to say."

Tara let one hand drift down to the aforementioned butt, squeezing gently. "This butt?" she asked softly, pressing kisses against Willow's neck as she felt the diamond on her engagement ring press into her chest as their breathing pushed Willow's chest to her own.

"Tara…" Willow started warningly. "Everyone's waiting on us."

"But I want you," Tara protested, still pressing kisses to her neck. She dragged herself away reluctantly, leaning her forehead against Willow's shoulder as she slid her hands back up to safer places. "I guess it wouldn't be good if I asked you to keep your job and then talked you into skipping the afternoon so you can stay here and let me do anything I want to you," she reasoned, giving Willow's quickening pulse one final kiss before lifting her head. "Let's go get some lunch."

Willow took a shuddery breath, her eyes closed tight. _"Meany,"_ she pouted. "I've got to work until at least four, but I can be home after that if you can hold that thought for…" she checked her watch, "…three and a half hours? Then I'll be home and we can lock the door and I'll help you with…whatever you need."

"Mmm," Tara sighed, biting her lip. "But what about Kyle?"

Willow groaned, her eyes still closed. "He _is_ a little too young to know what Mommy does to Mama when the door is closed…" she mused.

"What _you_ do to _me_?" Tara asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"You know what I mean!" Willow protested, her hands sliding slowly down Tara's sides before trailing back up. "He's too young to know what we do in _here_," she said. "And he'll be home." She sighed, pouting. "Would you mind waiting until tonight?" she asked reluctantly. "He'll be sleepy around eight, in bed by nine, and we can get away after that," she planned distractedly, looking up as Tara's finger guided her chin up.

"Sweetie, shh. It's okay," Tara promised. "I'd wait however long it took." She smirked. "Just preferably we won't have to wait until after Kyle is old enough to have that talk to do any of the stuff we will tell him about."

Willow shook her head emphatically. "Yeah, that's not going to happen." Her eyes dragged down Tara's form and she stifled a groan. "I don't even think I can make it until tonight."

"You know, it makes me feel really good that you still want me, even…"

"Stop it!" Willow cut her off. "You're gorgeous. You've always been gorgeous, and _will_ always be gorgeous. And you're having our babies," she continued. "There's nothing that could be more attractive."

Tara smiled weakly, knowing that she was feeling insecure and emotional but unable to stop it. "Sorry," she offered shakily. "Hormones, you know."

"I know," Willow assured her softly, winding her arms around Tara's waist. "And you don't have to apologize for anything," she stated. "I can deal with some mood swings, no problem."

Tara leaned her head against Willow's neck, taking a deep breath. "I don't want to make it rough on you. I know you've been working hard."

Willow bit her lip, fingers trailing up her wife's back to scratch lightly at the her scalp. "You can be rough if that's what you feel like," she teased before groaned, her eyes closing tightly. "Ungh, you're not really going to make me wait until tonight, are you? I could skip work. It won't put me behind that much and it would be _so _worth it!"

"You need to go to work. You're almost done with that project," Tara reminded her, finding one of her hands blindly, squeezing her fingers gently. "There aren't any good-looking secretaries at your office, are there?" she teased, biting her lip again. "Isn't the girl who sits outside of your office cute?"

Willow rolled her eyes, her free hand sliding back into the back of Tara's hair, pulling her firmly into a kiss. Tara let her in with no prompting, their joined hands squeezing as they both tried to gain control. Willow stood up on her toes to press closer, moaning as they separated gradually, both short on air. Tara took a long step back, pulling Willow with her and turning to dump the redhead onto their bed.

* * *

Buffy heard a muffled thump and laughed quietly to herself. "Alright Kyle, we can eat in the living room," she told her eagerly hopping godson. She ruffled his hair with a grin. "I guess Mama's not feeling good."

Kyle's lip stuck out and he frowned. "Can I go see her?" he asked, blinking wide blue eyes up at her. "She says when I hug her it makes her feel better."

Buffy grabbed his shoulder quickly, stopping him from moving. "Oh, um, I'm sure Mommy is taking good care of her, buddy boy. We can go up and see her after we eat, maybe." She picked up both of their plates and ushered her nephew into the living room. Kyle settled on the floor between the couch and the coffee table and Buffy put his plate down on the low table.

"Scooby!" Kyle yelped, adding a belated 'please' to the end of it.

Buffy turned on the show gratefully, clicking the volume up slightly louder than normal just in case. She wasn't the one who wanted to have to have the grown-up talk with Kyle, even though she couldn't blame Willow and Tara for taking a few moments for themselves, sure they wouldn't get many, or at least as many as they preferred, once the babies came.

They'd begun fixing Dawn's room up as a new nursery, but the youngest Scooby was still living with them through the holidays and until her new room at the witch squad house was set up to her liking. If Buffy remembered correctly, her sister was furniture shopping at that very moment. Of course, that could be wrong since Buffy had a bad habit of not listening too hard when her sister was talking about shopping for something boring like furniture. If it had been shoes, it would have been a completely different matter.

Although, if she'd gone shopping with Dawn she wouldn't have been able to watch Kyle, and Tara and Willow would have missed their stolen opportunity to fool around. The Slayer laughed to herself as she leaned back in her seat, picking up a bite of noodles on her chopsticks, mentally reevaluating that statement. Willow and Tara were surprisingly adept at finding opportunities to be alone.

Kyle slurped his noodles, smiling up at her. "I like this! It's yummy!" he declared with soy sauce dripping onto his chin.

"Yeah?" she asked. "I'm glad you like it." It had been a quick decision to let him try it, but it was Kyle's first experience with lo mein, or what he called 'Chinese s'ketti.' "Think you want to try some of the rice?" she asked. He nodded, mouth full as he held his plate up to her. She scooped some of her fried rice onto his plate and he shoveled rice in on top of his noodles, his cheeks puffed out. "Hey, chew and swallow that, remember?" Buffy rebuked him. "If you choke, your moms aren't going to let us do fun stuff like watch cartoons while we eat anymore." She patted the top of his head, drawing his eyes. "And what is watching cartoons while we eat?"

He nodded, a look of concentration on his face as he swallowed down his large bite. "Something we don't tell Mommy about," he answered knowingly, well used to doing things with Buffy and Faith that he had instructions not to tell his parents about. He showed her his empty mouth as proof that he wasn't going to choke and then went back to his plate, easily engrossed in his cartoon again.


	5. Chapter 5

It didn't take as long as Buffy had expected before Willow was tip-toeing downstairs again. Buffy noticed that her friend was in different clothes than she'd been wearing, and was at least an hour past her lunch break. Willow blushed as she realized she'd been caught, ruffling Kyle's hair as she rushed past him and stealing one of Buffy's egg rolls with her other hand. "I'm late for work! I'll be home later! Tara's asleep!" she informed them in a rush, trying to find her laptop case.

She had the door open when Kyle called her, and she turned back to him quickly. "Mommy, is Mama okay?" He had scampered up from his seat and bolted to wrap his arms around her leg.

Willow put her case down, dropping to meet his eyes as she swallowed her pilfered lunch quickly. "Of course she is, baby. She's just tired. Sometimes the new babies make her sleepy or feel sick." She caught sight of Buffy coming up behind Kyle, the Slayer hiding a smirk, though not very well.

"I'm sure _that's_ what wore her out," Buffy murmured, laughing. Willow shot her a look and she could feel the tips of her ears burning.

"Huh?" Kyle asked, looking between the two adults in confusion.

"Nothing, little man. Aunt Buffy didn't say anything," Willow said quickly, giving her friend a pointed look. "Mama's fine. I promise."

The little boy nodded seriously, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Okay."

"Are you going to be a good boy for your Aunt Buffy?" Willow asked, grinning as his floppy hair fell back in his face as he nodded again. "That's my man," she said, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "It's time to get your mama to cut your hair," she commented to herself, standing up again. "What are you guys getting up to this afternoon?" she asked Buffy, sliding the strap of her computer case over her shoulder again.

Just then Faith edged through the open door, catching Kyle as he jumped into her arms. "Hey! How's my guy today?" she asked, letting him drop to hang by his feet even as Willow closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Good!" Kyle answered. "Me and Aunt BB are eatin' Chinese s'ketti!"

"Cool!" Faith agreed, lowering him to let his hands plant on the ground. "Want to show your mom and Aunt B what we've been practicing?" she asked.

"Yeah!" he agreed eagerly as Willow opened her eyes to glare at the dark-haired Slayer.

"Be very careful," she cautioned, her eyes still narrowed at the Slayer.

"No worries," Faith promised reassuringly. "He's good."

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, but took a cautious step closer, ready to catch Kyle if it became necessary. "I'm ready!" Kyle called from below them. "Let go!"

Faith leaned over to make sure his arms were straight, but let his feet go gradually. Willow's eyes widened as he stayed up, shifting one hand a bit to keep his balance. He started to wobble after a few moments, but Faith and Buffy caught him simultaneously and he laughed as he leaned his neck up to see them.

"Did you see, Mommy? Did you see what I can do? Did you?" he chattered excitedly as he relaxed his arms and let his aunts put him flat on the floor.

"I did," Willow breathed, amazed that her son could do a handstand. "That was so good!" She glanced at Faith, the Slayer grinning proudly.

"He's a natural," Faith said, winking down at him. "He didn't get that from you, did he, Rosenberg?" she teased, nudging the witch with an elbow. They got along much better now than they ever had in high school, but it didn't stop them from picking at each other whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Buffy rolled her eyes as Kyle jumped to his feet, getting between them. "My mommy could do a handstand if she wanted! She just doesn't want to!" he insisted supportively, crossing his arms over his chest.

Willow put a hand on his shoulder as he started to bristle as Faith laughed helplessly, and he leaned his head back to look up at his mother. "It's okay, Kyle. Aunt FeFe was just kidding. And she's right," she told him. "I can't do that. _You_ know it's not nice to pick on people though, don't you?" She couldn't resist putting an edge in her voice, teasing Faith.

Kyle nodded, his jaw clenched at Faith. The Slayer took a deep breath, dropping to her knees in front of him. His shoulder twitched away as she went to rest her hand on his arm and she withdrew her hand. "Okay, listen, buddy. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have picked on your mom like that," she said with surprising earnestness. "Sorry, Willow," she said, knowing Kyle wouldn't accept the apology unless she did it right.

"Thank you, Faith," Willow agreed, biting back a smile. She knew Faith didn't care about teasing her, as little as she cared about it herself. They were both too old to take it personally anymore, but she knew Faith wouldn't upset Kyle for anything in the world, so she played along with the apology.

"You forgive me?" Faith requested, a question she never thought she'd be asking. Kyle considered, nodding finally and then hugging her.

"Good children," Willow murmured, exchanging smiles with Buffy. "Now I'm very late for work, so I've got to run, but you guys have fun. Love you all," she said, kissing the top of Kyle's head before bolting out the door.

Faith sat back on her heels, grinning. "She loves me?" she asked sarcastically, arching an eyebrow at Buffy. "That changes everything," she said, faking revelation.

"Shut up and let's figure out what we're doing this afternoon," Buffy prompted, holding a hand down to pull Faith to her feet. "Unless something's up?"

Faith shook her head, following them into the living room and snagging some chicken from Buffy's plate as she flopped onto the couch. "Nah. Giles is not the life of the party you might expect. He's reading some book or something, and I knew my man here would be doing something exciting," she said, curling one arm around Kyle's middle and lifting him.

"Well, Kyle, what do you want to do?" Buffy offered, swatting Faith away from her food.

He thought for a minute, laughing as Faith put him down. "Um…the park?" he suggested hopefully.

"Sounds good," Buffy agreed. "We'll just leave your mama a note so she knows where we are when she wakes up."

Kyle's head popped up. "Can I write it?" Willow had been teaching him his letters and he liked to practice, something Faith was sure he had gotten from his mother.

"Sure," Buffy said, laughing. "I'll just go get the paper while you finish your lunch, okay?" He slurped down the rest of his lunch quickly, pushing the plate out of the way as Buffy brought back a sheet of paper and a pen.

He put the pen on the paper, hesitating before he started to write. "Um…Aunt BB? How do you spell 'mama?'" he asked, knowing how to write most of the letters, but not how to spell. Buffy was patient and spelled out every word of their note, helping him when he made a mistake, while Faith made herself comfortable on the couch, laughing at the cartoons on the television.

Once his backpack was packed with any toy they might possibly want to play with, they left the house, locking the door behind him. On the way to park Buffy and Faith let him play another game that he was strictly forbidden to tell his parents about where he would stand on his Aunt Buffy's hands and she would push as he jumped straight up in the air and Aunt Faith would catch him (about a hundred feet down the sidewalk.)

They spent the afternoon in the park, the two Slayers tossing a Frisbee at an almost unbelievable distance while Kyle chased back and forth underneath it, laughing excitedly. Faith spent some time racing him around the park while Buffy lounged in the grass, grateful for the sun in the cold air. She called the playful pair back after a while, knowing that the younger slayers were expecting them at home for training.

Kyle pouted as he flopped into the grass beside his aunt, breathing hard. "Aww, why do we have to leave?"

"Aunt FeFe has to work tonight," Buffy told him as he rolled over onto his stomach, his head on his crossed arms.

"Work?" he asked, yawning helplessly.

"Working out," Faith clarified. "Working out with the girls in the yard."

"Can I help?" Kyle asked, picking his head up.

The Slayers exchanged smiles, amused by how enthusiastic he always was. "You've been playing pretty hard today," Buffy said carefully. "You're not tired?"

"No," he insisted stubbornly, pushing himself up to sit up. "I wanna help!"

"Okay, little man," Faith agreed. "But you gotta ride back to the house, okay?" He nodded, jumping to his feet while Buffy packed up his toys again, his backpack in one hand while Kyle climbed onto Faith's back.

They didn't speak as they walked back home, both hoping that the little boy might succumb to sleep on their way. Buffy met his eyes as they walked through the front door, Kyle smiling devilishly at her. "I said I wasn't sleepy."

"Okay," she conceded. "Let's get to work," she prompted, swatting his backside. "Back outside." She led them back outside, Kyle jumping down from Faith's arms as the other slayers started wandering into the yard.

* * *

Tara blinked slowly to wakefulness, the late afternoon sunlight fading outside the window. She stretched in the sheets, remembering vividly how she'd ended up there while her stomach reminded her that she'd missed lunch to make those memories. She felt a kick from one of the babies and her hand smoothed over her belly soothingly. "Hey, babies," she murmured. "Sorry we're hungry. Your mommy made us miss lunch." She got another kick for her apology and she sat up, disheveled hair falling into her face.

"_This waking up alone is no fun,"_ she said as she pulled on loose clothes that had been inherited from Xander. She could hear Willow laugh and she walked slowly into their bathroom to brush her hair.

"_I wanted to stay,"_ Willow reminded her pointedly. _"You're the one who insisted I keep my job."_

"_Willow…" _Tara said with a sigh. _"I miss you."_

"_I'll be home in an hour,"_ the redhead promised immediately. _"How are you feeling? Any nausea? Pain? Anything wrong?"_

"_No," _Tara said, yawning. _"I'm just hungry. And your children keep kicking me."_

"_I thought we decided that whenever they caused trouble they were your children,"_ Willow reminded her. _"I'm sorry you're getting kicked, sweetie. It doesn't hurt too bad does it?"_

"_No, they're just hungry. Someone distracted me from lunch."_

"_I do what I can,"_ Willow said smugly.

Tara laughed. _"And how's the secretary situation at your office?"_ she teased.

The redhead scoffed immediately. _"I wouldn't know. I'm married, you know. And the girls here have nothing on my woman."_

"_Good to know," _Tara answered, pleased. _"I should let you get back to work, baby."_

"_But talking to you is much better," _Willow countered. _"And I can't say I haven't been distracted all afternoon anyway, thinking about you," _she confessed.

"_All the more reason I should let you get some work done," _Tara reasoned, sitting down on the edge of the bed. _"I'll see you when you get home." _She pulled on a pair of socks and padded downstairs. Xander was on the couch watching football when she reached the bottom of the stairs and he waved.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, pausing behind him.

"Kyle's out in the yard with the slayers. Dawn's supervising the delivery of her new furniture, which is _not_ being built by me, Willow's still at work, as I'm sure you already know, and Chloe's on her way over," he summarized, looking over his shoulder. "And it looks like you had quite the good nap indeed," he commented, grinning up at her.

She swatted the back of his head, laughed. "Oh God, what did she say?"

Xander laughed. "It wasn't Willow. Believe me, she's painfully quiet on details," he teased as she narrowed her eyes at him, not entirely sure she should believe him. "I mean, I beg, and I beg, and she tells me _nothing_." Tara narrowed her eyes at him, and he laughed. "Nah, Buffy was giving Willow a hard time earlier, and she told me to pick on you when you finally came down." Tara sighed, shaking her head with a smile. "Oh, and there's a monster hickey on your neck," he added.

Tara froze, glaring at the back of his head and clapping her hand over the spot she knew Willow had marked, letting her hair down with a grumble. "Thank you," she called over her shoulder.

"No problem!" he called back, laughing.

Tara found the note Kyle had painstakingly written out, smiling at the careful effort her son had obviously put into it. She put it on the fridge with a magnet, sure that Willow would want to see it. The redhead had been teaching Kyle how to write for a few months, and he'd proved a quick study, no surprise to his parents or any of the Scoobies.

She made herself a sandwich and rejoined Xander in the living room, stretching out on the couch to watch the game with him. It only took half an hour for her body to start demanding a drink. Xander offered to get her some water but she pushed herself to her feet, patting his shoulder gratefully as she went into the kitchen.

Tara poured herself some juice, but looked up as the back door opened to let Kelly in. The young slayer was sweating and she waved distractedly as she pulled a bottle of the water from the fridge. "Hey," Tara greeted her. "How's it going out there? Is Kyle getting in the way?"

Kelly shook her head, grinning. "Nah, he's a little motivator out there," she said, leaning back against the kitchen counter beside Tara. "His handstands are getting really good," she commented.

"His what?" Tara asked, eyes widening.

"Um, nothing," Kelly said quickly. "Hey, so, you're looking good," she said, falling back on her favorite standby of hitting on Tara as a way of distracting her. "You ready to run away with me yet?"

Tara snorted, arching an eyebrow. "How many years have you been trying that?"

Kelly shrugged, thinking. "Um…four, five years?" she guessed. "And you are looking better than ever, may I say."

"You're lucky my wife is still at work," Tara answered, pushing the slayer's shoulder and rolling her eyes. "My wife who I love more every single day, and who I have three kids with," she reminded her, one hand on her swollen belly.

Kelly just grinned, shaking her head. "Can't blame me for trying," she said, finishing off her bottle of water. "Back to work." She waved with one hand as she moved back toward the hall, pressing herself against the wall as she gave Willow room to pass her.

"Kelly," Willow greeted her, smiling knowingly. "You enjoying hitting on my wife?" she asked cheerfully.

"Oh, yes ma'am!" Kelly said, grinning. "Always do! Can you blame me?"

Willow met Tara's eyes, winking. "No, not really," she admitted. "Have fun working!" she called, pointing to her wife. "I'm going to stay here and kiss her," she added smugly.

Kelly sighed in mock frustration. "Fine, rub it in!" she shouted as she continued toward the front door.

Willow turned to grin at Tara, moving to hug her. "How are my babies tonight?" she asked, pressing kisses across her collarbone while she pressed herself against Tara.

"Very good," Tara answered, smiling in a way that told Willow exactly what she meant. "How was work?" she asked considerately.

"Very boring and not sexy at all," Willow complained, grinning as she discovered her handiwork on Tara's neck. "Ooh, I like _this_," she commented, laughing.

"Yeah, so does Xander," Tara commented, giving her a look.

Willow just laughed harder. "It's not my fault you didn't check your neck! You know me better than that," she protested.

"Yeah, I know," Tara agreed, laughing herself. "It's been a while since I had such a big one though."

"True," Willow acceded, smirking with undeniable pride. "I'll have to do better." She leaned her head against Tara's chest, taking a deep breath. Tara stretched one arm out to grab Kyle's note from the fridge. "What's this?" Willow asked, gaping as she read it. "Well, look at what our little man can do!"

Tara didn't speak, but leaned her head against Willow's, breathing deeply. _"He's a little smarty. Just like his mommy."_

"Hey, do you want to go watch him train with the girls? He's really cute!" Willow asked, blushing at the complement.

Tara nodded, pushing them both up to stand up straight. "Sure, honey."

"Hey, did you know he can totally do a handstand?" Willow asked as they walked toward the front yard.


	6. Chapter 6

Tara gasped as she felt the first painful contraction. She'd been having mild ones for hours, but nothing like that. They'd put Kyle to bed hours ago, but her gigantic baby belly made it impossible for her to sleep and she'd retreated back down to the couch so she wouldn't disturb anyone else. Although, Willow had been unwillingly called to work in the middle of the night when the office's servers had crashed unexpectedly and wasn't around to be disturbed. Buffy was on patrol, and Xander had crashed early after a long day at work with the girls.

Tara tried to remember her breathing exercises, reaching out unconsciously to Willow for stability. _"Hon, are you very, very busy?"_ she asked, trying not to send Willow into panic.

"_What's wrong?" _Willow asked sharply. _"I'm on my way now. You don't move! Unless you need to go to the hospital, then go and I'll meet you there!"_

"_Willow, breathe,"_ Tara coached her. _"I do need to go to the hospital, but they just got bad, it's still early."_

"_I'm in the car,"_ Willow promised. _"God, baby, I'm so sorry. I never should have left you!"_

"_Calm down, Will,"_ Tara told her, gasping back a cry. _"This was the first time you've left the house in a week, and I'm fine, and I need you to drive safe. Slow down!"_

"_You don't even know how fast I'm going!" _Willow protested.

"_Drop it to forty-five, Willow Rosenberg-Maclay!" _Tara prompted firmly. _"Now! If you meet me at the hospital because you get in an accident, I'm going to kick your butt!"_

"_Yes, ma'am,"_ Willow agreed sheepishly, eyeing the needle on the speedometer that was edging toward seventy. _"I'm five minutes away. Are you alone?"_

"_Buffy's out. Xander and Kyle are both asleep,"_ Tara answered. _"I'm okay though."_ Even as she said it, the front door opened, letting Buffy in. _"Buffy's here."_

"_Good. Get her to stay with you,"_ Willow instructed, relieved that her wife wasn't alone. _"I'm in the neighborhood. I'll be there in three minutes."_

"Buffy," Tara gasped, struggling to speak at all. "Willow's on her way," she said simply, sure that the Slayer would be able to tell what was going on.

"Oh. Oh, jeez," Buffy gasped. "How long?"

"Just a little while. They just got really strong," Tara answered. "Willow says she's about three minutes away."

"Okay, well, what can I do?" Buffy asked.

The front door slammed open behind them, and Tara leaned around Buffy to glare. "That was _not_ three minutes, Willow!"

"You're mad I made it? I'm here and in one piece, who cares how fast I was going?" Willow demanded incredulously.

"I do!" Tara stated. "Willow!"

The witch joined her wife on the couch, brushing sweaty hair back from her face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Tara agreed, giving her a strained smile. "Maybe we should go though," she suggested.

"Buffy, help me get her in the car," Willow pleaded. "She's in labor."

The Slayer nodded, swallowing thickly. "This always happens here," she noted, freezing as they lifted Tara from the couch only to run into Kyle, the little boy rubbing sleepily at his eyes.

"Mama?" he asked, confused as he saw Tara leaning heavily on Willow and Buffy. His voice got higher, nervous suddenly. "Mama, are you okay?"

Buffy nodded. "She's okay, little man, but the babies are on their way, so we've got to get Mama to the doctor," she tried to explain, seeing his little face screw up in confusion as he struggled not to cry, not sure how else to react.

"Buffy, do you…?" Willow started to ask.

"I've got her," Buffy promised. "Meet us at the car."

Willow slipped herself reluctantly out from under Tara's arm, kissing her briefly before kneeling in front of Kyle and scooping him into her arms. "Your mama's okay baby, I promise!" she said, rocking him gently. "She's going to be okay."

"Really?" he asked, face buried in the redhead's neck.

Willow nodded, trying to slow her pounding heart. "Yes," she said firmly. "I would _never_ let anything happen to your mama." She leaned back to look him in the face. "But baby, I need to go to the hospital with her. Your Aunt Buffy will sit with you until you fall back asleep, okay?"

Kyle shook his head, jumping at her and wrapping his arms around her neck. "I want to go with you!"

"You will, baby. You'll come with us. It's just going to be a lot of sitting around until the babies come though, so I need you to stay here with Buffy and she'll bring you to us at the hospital in a little bit, okay?" Kyle shook his head against her again, whimpering. "Kyle," Willow sighed, trying to restrain herself, impatience to get to Tara beating in her chest.

"_Honey, talk to him. He's scared,"_ Tara reminded her gently, and Willow tried to calm down.

"Kyle, look at me," Willow directed. "Can you be a strong boy for me right now?" she asked as he looked up at her, nodding firmly. "That's my boy," she said, smiling encouragingly. "I have to go with Mama to the doctor, but I need you to take care of everybody here while we're gone, okay?"

"What do you need, Mommy?" he asked, wiping his nose with the back of one hand.

"Can you sit with Aunt BB until we call her? She's going to be nervous, so I need you to sit with her and give her lots of hugs, okay?" Willow requested. "And Unk's going to be running around a lot, so just make sure he sits down." Kyle nodded his understanding and Willow brushed his hair back, kissing his forehead. "And I'll call Aunt FeFe to come over and help you, okay?"

The little boy nodded again seriously, hugging her again. "I love you, Kyle," Willow breathed into his hair, hearing Tara echo it in her head. "So does Mama. We love you so much."

"Love you, Mommy," he whispered, sniffling again. "Can I tell Mama too before she goes to the doctor?" he asked.

"Of course you can, baby," Willow assured him and he took off, bolting across the room and out the door, leaving Willow to follow him.

Buffy had lifted him into Tara's lap by the time the caught up and she could see her wife's tears on her face as she hugged their son. Buffy lifted him back out a few minutes later, the boy crying now and he curled himself into his aunt's arms, his face pressing tight into her shirt. Willow pointed across the street and Buffy nodded, understanding. She debating running inside and using the phone, but decided it would be easier to walk. She waited until the witches were on their way, jogging across the street with Kyle still safely in her arms.

She kicked the base of the door rather than knock and Faith answered with a stake in her hand. Her expression softened when she saw Kyle and then hardened again as she realized he was crying. "What did this?" she demanded, pushing his hair back to check for blood. "It's dead!"

"Faith, no, he's okay," Buffy started, stopping as Kyle jumped from her to Faith, clinging to her. "Tara's in labor," she explained as her counterpart did her best to comfort the little boy. "He saw her on the way to the car and got scared."

Faith dropped her stake, both arms wrapping around Kyle. "Aww, little man, it's okay. Your mama's strong, okay? She's going to be just fine. Will, your mom would never let anything happen to her." She leaned back to look him in the eyes. "And hey, tomorrow we'll have new little kids to play with!" she reminded him.

He tried to stifle his sniffling, nodding. "I'm their big brother," he said shakily.

"That's right, my man, you are!" Faith agreed, smiling to him. He leaned against her and she let out a deep breath, meeting Buffy's eyes as he settled down against her chest. "Anybody else know?"

Buffy shrugged, glancing across the street at her own house. "Dawn just started sleeping at her new place, but I'm sure Xander had to have heard us," she commented. "I should call Dawnie."

"You know where the phone is," Faith agreed, stepping out of the doorway with Kyle still in her arms. "Or should we go over there?"

Buffy nodded back to her own house. "Will's going to call there," she decided. "You got him?" Faith nodded. "Should we get Giles?"

Faith nodded, stomping her foot twice. "G-man! Wake up! Twins are coming! We're going across the street!" she yelled to the ceiling, grinning at Buffy. "He'll come over once he figures out he's not having a heart attack," she said, grinning wickedly.

Buffy shook her head, one hand stroking through Kyle's hair. "It's a miracle he doesn't kill you in your sleep."

Faith shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, probably," she agreed cheerfully as they crossed the street. Kyle was sacked out by the time they got inside, and Faith stopped Buffy from turning too many lights on as she carried him to the couch.

The dark-haired Slayer took a seat beside him on the couch, blinking down in surprise as Kyle moved closer to her in his sleep, his head coming to rest on her thigh. Xander joined them from his room, pulling a t-shirt over his head as he took a seat across from her.

"He's alright?" he asked quietly, smiling as Faith stroked the little boy's hair unconsciously.

"Yeah," she answered, voice rough. "He's a tough guy, just got a little freaked out, that's all." Xander didn't say anything else, just leaned back in his chair, smiling in the dim light. "What?" she demanded when she noticed, feeling self conscious for some reason she didn't feel like examining.

The carpenter shrugged, rubbing his hands over the tops of his legs. "Nothing, Faith," he said.

The Slayer shook her head, pointing at him firmly. "Spit it out, Harris," she ordered.

He shrugged again, biting his lip as Kyle let out a soft sigh, his fingers twitching as he slept. "It's just…nice, how you are with him," he said quietly. "The kinder, gentler Faith is not something I thought I'd ever see," he confessed.

She sighed, looking down at the little boy. "Me neither," she said, not looking at him. "Not to say that I couldn't kick your ass any day of the week," she declared, glancing up briefly with a smirk.

"Of course," he agreed, laughing quietly.

"Who'd have thought it would be Red's son that would bring it out?" Faith mused.

"We all love him, Faith," Xander agreed. "But whatever you feel for him, whatever it is about him that 'brings it out' of you, he feels the same way about you."

"You think?" she asked, some form of fragile hope in her voice, a tone he'd never heard from her.

"Yeah," he said, swallowing thickly. "He adores you, Faith. Even if he does still call you FeFe."

"Which I, personally, hope he never grows out of," Buffy chimed in with a grin, hanging up the phone as she rounded to couch to sit by Kyle's feet. "What are we talking about?"

"How Faith _loves _Kyle," Xander teased.

Buffy grinned, shrugging. "We all love Kyle, Xand," she reminded him. "Hey, did either of you guys manage to get baby names out of them?" she asked, changing the subject for Faith's benefit.

"No!" Xander said, huffing. "I've been begging Will for weeks!"

Faith laughed, leaning back against the couch cushions. "No luck on the sci-fi names or whatever?" she asked.

"No!" he repeated, obviously exasperated. "They're giving me nothing on Luke and Leia!" Willow and Tara had found out that they were having a boy and girl, and they had already picked out names, but they were keeping the names to themselves.

Both Slayers laughed, calming down as Kyle moved in his sleep. Their effort was wasted as Dawn bolted in, the front door slamming open. Kyle jumped awake, looking around in surprised confusion at the adults. "Mama?" he asked, lip shaking as he looked between Buffy and Faith.

"She's fine, little man," Faith promised. "Come here," she prompted, opening her arms and letting him curl into her lap, leaning back against her chest. "That's my guy," she said quietly. "Just chill, relax." She rested one of her hands on his chest, his breathing shaky as he struggled to keep from crying.

Buffy gave him a smile as he squared his jaw, taking deep breaths and blinking furiously to keep tears back. "We're so proud of you, Kyle. You're being so strong," she encouraged him.

Faith nodded, leaning her head against his hair. He took another shuddery breath, but looked to be calming down.

"Sorry," Dawn apologized in a whisper, smiling at him as Giles came in.

"You guys, there's coffee in the kitchen," Buffy said. "It should be ready. I started it when I was on the phone with Dawn," she said, grinning at Faith and Xander's surprised looks.

"Oh, thank goodness," Giles said in relief, moving straight toward the kitchen. "Thank you, Buffy."

The Slayer grinned, leaning back into the couch. Giles brought them each a cup of coffee, sitting against the base of the couch. Kyle shifted in Faith's arms behind him, blinking tiredly around the room at their family, the little boy trying stubbornly to stay awake.

It was two hours before they heard anything from the witches, two tense hours of sitting and waiting while they tried to keep Kyle settled. He dozed sporadically, but never stayed asleep long. He jumped when the phone rang, sitting up straight in Faith's lap while Buffy answered the phone.

"Hey, Will," Buffy asked, tilting the phone as Kyle scrambled across the couch to listen to the phone as Buffy talked to his mother.

"Buffy," Willow answered breathlessly. "How's Kyle?"

The Slayer could hear babies screaming in the background, and she smiled excitedly. "He's a good little man. He's right here."

"Mommy!" Kyle yelped, pulling the phone out of Buffy's hands. "Mommy, Mama?"

"Your Mama's fine, baby. I promise," Willow told him. "How are you?"

"Good, Mommy. Can I talk to Mama? When can I come see you?" he asked, holding the phone tight in both hands.

Willow smiled across the room at Tara. "You can come right now, okay? Just let me talk to Aunt Buffy."

"Okay, Mommy!" he said, already shoving the phone back at her.

"I love you!" Willow called loudly, hoping he would hear her. "Buffy?"

"He heard you," Buffy promised, huffing as Kyle shoved against her stomach to push himself off the couch. "He's on his way upstairs to get dressed. Faith?"

"Yeah, I'm on it," she agreed, dragging herself wearily up from the couch.

"Can you guys bring him here?" Willow requested.

"Sure, of course," Buffy promised. "Do you want me to just bring him?"

Willow laughed shakily. "No, of course not. We've got babies who need to meet their family. We'll just bring him in first, okay? So he can see Tara and see what they're like."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "How are they? How's Tara?"

"They're perfect!" Willow breathed. "Buffy, they're so perfect."

The Slayer grinned, letting out a deep breath, signaling the others to start getting ready to go. "I can't wait to meet them, Will. We were expecting it to be a longer wait."

"Yeah, we ended up having to do a c-section," Willow said, voice shaky and tense.

"Will, she's okay, right?" Buffy asked.

The witch let herself taking a deep breath, her eyes closing. "Yeah, she's fine. She's just going to have to stay in recovery for a few extra days."

Buffy let out a breath of relief. "Okay, well, that's not so bad," she reminded her friend. She heard Kyle coming down the stairs, followed quickly by Faith. "Hey, Will, Kyle's ready, so we're on our way to you."

"Okay, thanks, Buffy," Willow said, letting out a breath of relief herself. "We'll be in room 405. We're moving there now."

"Cool. We'll be there in ten minutes," Buffy promised. She clicked the phone off as Kyle jumped into her lap.

"Can we go see Mommy now?" he asked, wrapping his legs around her as she stood up, her hands supporting him.

"Of course we can. We're going right now and you can meet your new baby brother and sister, okay?" she assured him.

He nodded happily, jumping down and bolting to the car. He was already buckled in when the adults joined him, bouncing eagerly in his seat even as he yawned in exhaustion. Buffy took the wheel, the predawn traffic thin and easily maneuvered. They reached the hospital within the promised ten minutes, the group piling out of the car in the parking lot. Kyle knew the rules about parking lots very well, but was still pulling on Faith's hand, trying to drag her toward the building.

"Slow up, little man," she prompted. "You're gonna pull my arm out!" He looked back at her, stomping one little foot on the concrete. "Your moms aren't going anywhere."

"I want to see them!" he whined.

Buffy and Faith exchanged looks, and the dark-haired Slayer shrugged. "You want to run him up there?" Faith asked, knowing that the other Slayer was eager to get to her friend.

Buffy nodded, crouching. "Climb on, buddy," she prompted, the little boy already scrambling onto her back. She bolted across the parking lot, slowing to a brisk walk once they were inside so they wouldn't freak out the nurses and other patients. They rode the elevator with two other pairs, both of them stopping on different floors, making their ride longer.

When they finally opened on the fourth floor Buffy got out, Kyle still clinging to her back. They were greeted by Chloe, the nurse grinning. "Hey Buffy, Willow said you were on your way."

"I'm here too!" Kyle yelped, jumping against Buffy's hands under his legs so Chloe could see him. "Where's my Mama?"

Chloe blinked, pointing slowly. "Um, Mommy's in there, big guy."

"Put me down!" Kyle said, kicking his heels against Buffy's arms. She let him go, the little boy running across the waiting room and leaving the adults behind.

"Chlo, where's Tara?" Buffy asked, frowning and turning to keep an eye on Kyle.

"She's still in recovery."

"Willow said she was okay," Buffy said, arms crossing over her chest.

Chloe nodded reassuringly. "She is. She's just weak still, so they want to keep her in observation."

"Has she seen the kids?"

"Yeah, they both insisted," Chloe said, grinning. "Willow's very determined, you know," she commented.

The Slayer laughed, nodding. "I've noticed that about her. And never more than when it concerns Tara."

"Well, they should be moving her down anytime now," Chloe said.

"Thanks," Buffy said. "I'm sure Willow will be more compliant once Tara's around to calm her down."

"I've noticed that too," Chloe agree with a laugh.


	7. Chapter 7

Willow looked up as the door jerked but didn't open, putting down her new baby daughter in her bassinet and moving to answer the door. She was looking for an adult, but her eyes dropped as Kyle jumped forward to hug her knees. "Mommy!"

She reached down and picked him up quickly, hugging him. "Kyle!" she breathed, her fingers moving through his hair. "I'm glad you're here, baby."

"Mama?" Kyle asked, looking around for Tara.

Willow turned him so he was sitting against her hip, shaking her head. "She's coming. She'll be here any minute. How are you doing?"

He yawned as he answered, "Good, Mommy." He snuggled his head against her chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, sweetheart," Willow breathed, relaxing. "I missed you a lot. We're you a good boy for your Aunt Buffy?"

"Yes," he agreed, yawning again. He looked over at the cribs as one of the babies stirred. "What's that?"

"That's your baby brother," Willow answered. "Do you want to look?" She walked slowly over to the crib, her son leaning over to look at her newest son.

Kyle looked down in fascination, looking back up at her. "He's so little! Can I touch him?"

"Yes, just be really gentle, okay?" Willow coached him.

Kyle leaned over to press one finger against his brother's cheek for a brief second. The baby's eyes blinked open, and their eyes locked. "He looks like me," he said in wonder.

Willow smiled, pressing her lips against his hair. "He sure does. You and Mama. _Tara, Kyle's here."_

"_I'm on the way down,"_ Tara answered her. _"What does he think?"_

"_He wants to see you. But he's okay so far,"_ Willow answered her, watching as their sons interacted. "He likes you," she whispered.

"I like him," Kyle decided. "He's funny," he said, grinning at his mother. "What's his name?"

"His name is Joshua. Joshua Maclay," she told him.

"Like my name!" Kyle said.

Willow laughed, nodding. "Yep. Exactly like your name."

"Josh-u-ah," Kyle sounded it out, looking up at her. "Is his middle name like mine too?"

Willow shook her head, smiling. "No, your middle name came from Unk's name. Joshua's middle name comes from Papa's name." They'd debated for a heartbeat trying to pull names from either side of their family trees, but decided it was only fitting to find a suitable name within their true family.

"Joshua Papa?" Kyle asked, frowning.

"No," Willow laughed. "Papa's real name is Rupert Giles."

"Oh," Kyle said, still frowning. "Rupert's kind of silly, Mommy," he confessed as Willow laughed louder.

"I know that, sweetie. Joshua's middle name is going to be Giles." She looked at him, still smiling. "Joshua Giles Maclay. What do you think?"

He thought about it for a moment, nodding finally. "I like it!" he decided, yawning.

"It's past your bed time, little man," Willow reminded him, guiding his head to her shoulder.

He pushed back up against her hand, resisting. "I wanna see Mama!" he insisted stubbornly, even as the door opened behind them and a pair of nurses wheeled Tara's bed into the room. "Mama!" he yelped, already squirming against Willow's arms to get to her.

Willow was helpless as Tara held her arms out to him, taking their son from her. "Gently, buddy. Mama's tummy isn't feeling too good right now," she prompted, brushing his hair back gently. His sister moved in her bassinet, drawing her attention as Kyle burrowed his face into Tara's shoulder.

The blonde hissed, holding her son's head to her chest as Willow rejoined them quickly. _"I'm fine, just sore,"_ Tara promised preemptively, smiling weakly up at her.

"I love you," Willow whispered, rocking their daughter gently in her arms.

Kyle blinked up at his sister, yawning helplessly. "What's her name?" he asked tiredly.

"Her name is Allison," Tara told him, voice soft in his ear.

"Cool," he muttered, eyes dragging heavily.

Tara pressed a kiss to his forehead, exchanging smiles with Willow. "Goodnight, baby boy," she breathed, hugging him closer.

"He's not too heavy, is he?" Willow asked, concerned as the little boy faded into sleep against Tara's chest.

The blonde smiled, shaking her head minutely, her lips still pressed against his skin. _"He's perfect,"_ she promised reassuringly. _"Is everyone else here?"_

Willow blinked, mouth dropping open suddenly. "Um, I sure hope so…" she answered. "Kyle just kind of showed up at the door, and I didn't really think about it…"

"I'm sure they're here," Tara said, smiling. "They'd never let him out of their sight."

Willow edged sideways toward the door, nudging it open with a foot, her daughter still rocking in her arms. "Buffy?" she called, breathing a sigh of relief as the Slayer appeared, followed by the others. "Oh, good. Come on in."

They followed her, Buffy plucking the infant girl from her arms almost immediately. "Hey, baby girl! I'm Aunt Buffy and you love me!"

Dawn and Xander laughed, the younger girl scooping the infant boy from his bassinet. Xander leaned over to brush one hand through the sleeping Kyle's hair, pressing a kiss to Tara's forehead. "How you doing?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

The blonde groaned, a tired smile on her face. "Never better," she said, sighing.

"Good," he agreed. "The kids are beautiful."

"Just like their mother," Willow agreed, smiling.

Xander smiled, holding his hands out. "Can I take him?" he asked, taking the baby from Dawn carefully. Faith leaned over to look at him, wiggling one finger in front of his eyes as his eyes blinked open and he stared at her. "Looks like Aunt FeFe's got a new playmate," Xander teased.

"Shut it, Harris," Faith directed firmly, glaring at him. Her expression shifted as Kyle moved against Tara's shoulder, the blonde witch pressing a kiss to her son's hair.

"Would you mind taking him?" she whispered, meeting Faith's eyes. "My arm's asleep."

The dark-haired Slayer nodded, stepping forward to lift the little boy. He shifted but didn't wake up as he settled into her arms. Tara nodded sideways at the other bed in the room, intended for the spouse of the new mother. Faith nodded, taking Kyle to the bed and stretching out with him.

Everyone was tired, the wake up just as they'd been going to bed ensuring than none of them had gotten more than an hour or two of sleep. And Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Tara hadn't even had that. They each took turn with both of the babies, settling into the dim room. Despite being the only two who'd gotten any sleep, Giles and Dawn were the first to succumb to sleep. Buffy opted to stretch out on the bed with Faith and Kyle, the little boy still sleeping peacefully. Xander was the last to give in, both babies in his arms in the last chair. Willow got them both as he started snoring softly, putting them back in their bassinets.

Chloe poked her head in as the redhead was tucking in her daughter, the nurse laughing at her boyfriend and getting the witch's attention. "Hey, is it okay if they all stay?" Willow asked. They'd closed the blinds as the sun had started to rise, and it was clear that the others weren't going anywhere.

"Yeah, it's fine. Someone will need to check on Tara soon, but I'll make a note not to disturb this room," she promised. Willow nodded her thanks, Chloe squeezing her wrist before leaving them alone again. "Congratulations," she whispered as she pulled the door shut behind her.

Tara's eyes were closed as Willow went back to the edge of the bed, leaning over to kiss her forehead. Tara caught her arm as she moved to turn away, blue eyes dragging open heavily. "Where are you going?"

"You just had surgery, Tara," Willow answered. "I'm just going to sit over there."

The blonde shook her head, eyes closing again. "There's no more chairs," she said wearily. Willow opened her mouth to protest, cut off by Tara without the blonde having to see it. "Just get in here," she instructed, scooting slowly to one side.

"I don't want to hurt you," Willow protested.

"You never would," Tara agreed, pulling on her wrist. "We'll be careful," she promised.

Willow looked around the room, every surface covered with a member of their family, and she relented with a sigh, easing hesitantly onto the edge of the bed. She stayed stiffly on her side, careful to keep space between her body and Tara's. The blonde tugged her closer, moving to put her head on Willow's shoulder. _"I love you." _Willow knew that it didn't need to be said, but repeated it anyway.

"_Love you too,"_ Tara agreed, her fingers finding the front of Willow's shirt and resting her hand lightly against the redhead's stomach. The soft touch was more than enough to convince Willow not to move.

The redhead heard one of the twins shift, but the baby thankfully didn't scream or cry, but settled back to sleep. She felt her heart start beating faster as she let herself think about her family, spread around the room and all sleeping peacefully. At one point in her life, this future had been entirely beyond her reach and now she couldn't imagine a different life. Tara sighed against her chest and Willow looked down at her, arm curling around her shoulder as she leaned over to press a kiss to blonde hair. She left her lips against Tara's hair, smiling softly as her wife's hand slid from where it had been resting on her belly to cover her heart, fingers lightly on her collarbone.

* * *

Tara paused as she entered the front door, looking at the spotless, sparkling surfaces of their house in surprise. "Hey, what's the hold up?" Faith called from behind her, Kyle riding on the Slayer's shoulders.

Tara moved into the house without speaking, letting the others see for themselves. "Whoa," Buffy breathed, looking around as she let her shopping bags slide off her arms into a heap at her feet. "I don't think the house was this clean when we moved in."

"No way!" Dawn agreed. She smiled as she noticed a vase of red roses on the dining room table, moving to get them and handing them to Tara without looking at the card. "I'm guessing these are for you."

The blonde arched an eyebrow, getting affirmative nods from the others. The card proved them right, Willow's handwriting as familiar as her own. 'Welcome home. Dinner's in the oven, and the house is clean from top to bottom, so you just have to relax and stay beautiful. Love you, Willow'

Faith sniffed hopefully, laughing as she lifted Kyle down. "I think I'll be staying for dinner," she invited herself with a grin, winking.

Kyle laughed, rushing into the living room as Faith chased him. Tara followed them a moment later as her son called to her. "What is it…?" she asked, stopping as she saw what had prompted his call. One arm curled itself around her waist, her other hand covering her mouth. "Okay," she said, voice low. "You two go play outside," she directed.

Kyle pouted, lip jutting out. "No fair! I wanted to play in here!"

"The house is all clean though," Faith pointed out, trying to help. "We don't want to get busted for messing it up, do we?" Tara cleared her throat, arching an eyebrow at the Slayer. "Oh, and cause your mom said we had to," she added belatedly, trying a smile.

Tara rolled her eyes, but smiled as the pair left the room, her attention drawn back to the couch as they left. Willow and Xander were stretched out on the sofas, heads at either end of the couch and each with a baby asleep on their chests. However, both of the adults had succumbed to sleep as well.

Dawn and Buffy joined her, laughing quietly as they saw the scene before them. Dawn pulled out her ever-present camera, snapping a few pictures before she and her sister left, leaving the witch to enjoy the moment.

Tara smiled as she watched the pair sleep, studying them. After a contemplative moment, she moved to the couch, lifting the blankets off the back of the sofas and covering both of their legs, careful not to cover higher than either twin's back. She paused to lean over, pressing a kiss to Willow's cheek. The redhead moved slightly as she started to pull back, her name a soft sigh.

"Sleep, sweetheart," Tara prompted softly, leaning up for another kiss to her forehead.

"Mmm," Willow moaned, stretching a little against the cushions. "Tara?" This time was a question, her eyes fluttering behind their lids.

"Shh," Tara whispered. "Sleep."

Willow's eyes blinked opened slowly, the redhead stretching. "Hey you," she whispered. "I thought I heard you come in." She leaned up slightly, taking a deep breath. "I cleaned the house," she said unnecessarily.

"I saw that," Tara said, smiling as she brushed hair out of Willow's face. "You must be tired."

"No," Willow denied around a yawn. "Just resting my eyes."

"Xander too?" Tara asked, biting back a laugh as the redhead turned to see her best friend mirroring her position.

"Yeah," Willow said, nodding. "We're just resting until the timer on the oven goes off. It would have woken us up," she explained, blinking up at her.

Tara nodded, leaning forward uncontrollably to kiss her wife. "Thank you for my roses," she said as the kiss broke, the words spoken against her lips.

"You're welcome," Willow breathed, leaning up to chase her lips. They both jumped as Allison moved against Willow's chest, still asleep, and Willow smiled ruefully. "We can't get _one_ minute!" she complained in a whisper.

Tara considered her for a moment, thinking of the last few months since they twins had been born. "Come here," she said softly, crooking one finger.

Willow blinked, confused. "Huh?"

"Scoot out," Tara said, smiling softly. She stood up, kicking off her shoes as Willow moved slowly toward the outer edge of the sofa. She slipped herself between the back of the couch and Willow's body, the redhead turning to face her. "Hey," Tara whispered, one hand stroking lightly over their daughter's tight red curls.

"Hey," Willow whispered, mouth suddenly dry. It had been a long few months, and even with the others helping them, three kids had been overwhelming. "I missed you."

Tara smiled, taking a deep breath. "I've missed you too," she said quietly. "You're too sweet, cleaning up the house, and dinner, and everything."

"You deserve some time off, taking Kyle shopping, and doing everything that you do around here," Willow said. "The plan was that you could take a rest on the couch, or in bed, and I'll take care of dinner. The twins kind of screwed that up though, falling asleep on us like they did."

"Mmhmm," Tara murmured her agreement, smirking. "I can see that."

"The plan still works," Willow said with a yawn. "You just might have to take your rest with a baby." She smiled softly, stretching. "Not that that's a horrible proposition."

Tara shook her head minutely, shifting closer so that the length of her body was pressed against Willow's side. "I can think of a better one," she proposed. Willow raised an eyebrow at her, biting back a smile and sucking in a shaky breath. "We let Buffy and Dawn finish dinner and set the table, and you stay here with me," she said, trailing one finger down the length of Willow's chest.

The redhead nodded, swallowing thickly. "Yeah," she agreed hoarsely. "That's a much better plan." Tara moved closer, pressing a kiss to Willow's temple, settling her head on her wife's shoulder. "_So_ much better," Willow sighed, leaning her head against Tara's.

Their friends took over dinner without prompting, leaving the witches snuggling on the couch. Tara kept her fingers stroking over Willow's front, both of them breathing deeply as they relaxed. _"Thank you,"_ Willow breathed, pressing a kiss to her lover's hair. _"This is perfect."_

Tara nodded silently, leaning up to look across at where Joshua was curled up in the crook of Xander's arm, Allison in the same position against Willow's side. _"It really is,"_ Tara agreed. _"Can you believe this is our life?"_

"_No," _Willow answered. _"It's unbelievable. Three beautiful children with the woman I love. The woman I love being alive to have children with,"_ she continued, a rare reference to Tara's death.

"Willow," Tara sighed, dragging her fingers up and taking a grip on her shirt, clinging to her unconsciously.

"I know," the redhead interjected. "I'd do it all again for another chance to end up like this."

"Me too," Tara agreed, letting her fingers relax, palm flat against Willow's stomach. "I wonder what it would have been like for you, all of you…"

"Tara, don't even say it," Willow interjected, her free hand finding Tara's on her chest. "I don't even want to think about it." She took a shuddery breath. "You're my whole world, Tara. You and the kids…I don't know what I'd be if I didn't…if you hadn't come back to me…"

"I know, sweetheart," Tara whispered. "I'm right here." She squeezed Willow's fingers gently. "I was just talking. It doesn't mean anything. Neither one of us is going anywhere."

"And who wants to think about the completely horrible possibility that we didn't make these angels?" Willow offered with a small smile, drawing their joined hands to their daughter's back.

"Not me," Tara sighed, laughing softly as they both heard Kyle laugh excitedly from the backyard, undoubtedly doing something that would make them cringe if they could see it. "I love our life."

"It is perfect," Willow replied right before hearing the smoke alarm start blaring in the kitchen suddenly. The loud noise woke Allison and Joshua, the house full of noise quickly as both babies started crying. The witches' eyes met and they pushed themselves up. _"So much for that plan," _Willow said, rocking Allison as Tara got Joshua from Xander while the carpenter rushed to check the kitchen.

He was quick to shout that it was a false alarm, waving smoke away from the sensor with a towel. "Nothing's on fire, just a little char-broiled."

Willow let out a deep breath, smiling sheepishly. "So much for fancy dinner," she commented, rocking Allison.

Tara was rocking Joshua and she bumped her elbow against Willow's. "Hey, it's still perfect," she stated, smiling peacefully in the midst of the sudden chaos.

"Pretty much," Willow agreed, grinning.


End file.
